The Orbital Perspective (Enhanced Edition)
Lessons in Seeing the Big Picture from a Journey of 71 Million Miles
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- $19.99
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- $19.99
Publisher Description
This enhanced edition includes over an hour of video: extraordinary footage of astronaut Ron Garan's life on the International Space Station, and vignettes of inspiring projects on Earth that show the orbital perspective in action.
For astronaut Ron Garan, living on the International Space Station was a powerful, transformative experience—one that he believes holds the key to solving our problems here on Earth.
On space walks and through windows, Garan was struck by the stunning beauty of the Earth from space but sobered by knowing how much needed to be done to help this troubled planet. And yet on the International Space Station, Garan, a former fighter pilot, was working work side by side with Russians, who only a few years before were “the enemy.” If fifteen nationalities could collaborate on one of the most ambitious, technologically complicated undertakings in history, surely we can apply that kind of cooperation and innovation toward creating a better world. That spirit is what Garan calls the “orbital perspective.”
Garan vividly conveys what it was like learning to work with a diverse group of people in an environment only a handful of human beings have ever known. But more importantly, he describes how he and others are working to apply the orbital perspective here at home, embracing new partnerships and processes to promote peace and combat hunger, thirst, poverty, and environmental destruction. This book is a call to action for each of us to care for the most important space station of all: planet Earth. You don't need to be an astronaut to have the orbital perspective. Garan's message of elevated empathy is an inspiration to all who seek a better world.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Debut author Garan, an astronaut who has spent 178 days in space, offers a well-considered set of strategies for curing social ills and improving the world, gleaned from the history of space travel and his thoughts while viewing Earth from the International Space Station (ISS). His philosophy centers on global cooperation, inspired by the creation of the ISS, the "largest, most daring peacetime international collaboration in history," during which the U.S. and Russia overcame long-standing rivalries, language barriers, and cultural differences in pursuit of a common goal. As another compelling example, Garan recalls the successful rescue of the trapped Chilean miners, for which NASA officials were enlisted, along with psychologists and various private enterprises. Other current innovations done through mass collaboration discussed here include a satellite system for detecting weather and natural disasters, a project to advise farmers in developing countries on what and how much to plant, and user-driven websites like Wikipedia. Garan highlights some important structural flaws in humanitarian work as it's currently practiced, noting that donors reward short-term methods and "new and shiny" results over consistency and a broader scope. His thesis that "Earth is a small town with many neighborhoods in a very big universe" rings powerfully true, and his lessons are particularly apt for those working in the nonprofit sector.